From the Candidate: Truth in Campaigning

Pandering to the public is the professional politicians' panacea. Three subjects that are at the top of the pandering propaganda list this election are health care, education and Yucca Mountain. I, Richard Hamzik, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, would like to provide some clarification on these subjects.

Some Senate candidates have been pandering to the senior population by offering additional benefits (and regulations) to the Medicare program. Medicare is inherently flawed and unsustainable in its present form. The main problem being the excessive regulation by the federal government.

The federal government is the single largest determinant of our health-care practices, policies and prices. Its involvement has prevented the free market from working and prohibits us from using the free market to our advantage in making the choices best suited for our individual situations. It is not a function of the federal government to provide socialized medicine.

Politicians grossly exaggerate the problem in an election year to appear like they care. It was their involvement in the health-care field that caused the situation we find ourselves in. Frequently, well-meaning doctors have to circumvent the system to provide adequate diagnostic and medical service. What is needed for our health-care system to regain its health, is to repeal all federal legislation that restricts our ability to decide and choose the appropriate doctors and treatment.

Education is a state issue. Do not be fooled by candidates saying they want local control yet advocate "block granting money to the classroom." The reality is you will never have local control with federal money. The solution is to end federal involvement in our educational process and repeal the taxation they use to fund it. It is up to the states to decide how to raise and spend the money they deem necessary for their children's education.

Yucca Mountain since 1987 by legislation has been the only designated site for permanent storage of high-level nuclear waste. Despite candidates' and existing politicians' rhetoric to the contrary, they have not done anything to change the fact that when Yucca Mountain is completed and certified, nuclear waste will be stored there. Our current senators have been seriously misleading the public. "Fighting it" will do nothing to benefit the citizens of Nevada. We need to shine the light on all the facts and turn the inevitable into an opportunity.

I am the only candidate that, if elected, would actively work to return the federal government back to its constitutionally enumerated limits and restore our constitutionally guaranteed freedoms, liberties and privacy. I am also the only candidate that has a term limit pledge and a guarantee of his performance (see the Hamzik GOP Guarantee in the www.hamzik4senate.org website). If elected, this candidate will work to end "politics as usual" and the status quo of Washington DC. Thank you.

Richard Hamzik is a Gardnerville resident.